Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a flexible organic light-emitting display device having a structure showing minimal deformation against bending stress.
Description of the Related Art
As the era of information technology has truly begun, the field of display devices has rapidly advanced. In accordance with this, research is ongoing into various display devices which are thinner, lighter and consume less power. Such display devices include a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a plasma display panel (PDP) device, a field emission display (FED) device, an electro-wetting display (EWD) device, quantum dot displays, and an organic light-emitting display (OLED) device, etc.
Among others, an organic light-emitting display (OLED) device is capable of producing light and thus does not require an additional light source, as in a liquid crystal display (LCD) device. Therefore, an organic light-emitting display device can be made lighter and thinner than an LCD device. Further, an organic light-emitting display device has advantages in that it is driven with low voltage to consume less power, and in that it has shorter response time, wider viewing angle and higher contrast ratio (CR). For these reasons, an organic light-emitting display device is currently under development as the next generation display device. Despite such advantages, organic light-emitting display devices are less reliable than other display devices since organic light-emitting materials are especially vulnerable to moisture and oxygen.
An organic light-emitting display device includes an organic light-emitting element including an anode, an organic emission layer and a cathode. The organic emission layer emits light by combining holes from the anode and electrons from the cathode. The organic emission layer is very vulnerable to moisture and oxygen and thus an encapsulation structure is required.
A flexible organic light-emitting display device has been regarded as the next generation display device. Such flexible organic light-emitting display device is fabricated by forming a display area and various conductive lines on a flexible substrate made of plastic or the like so that it can display images even if it is bent like paper.
Applications of such flexible organic light-emitting display devices become wider, including computer monitors and televisions as well as personal portable devices. Accordingly, research is on-going into flexible organic light-emitting display devices having a larger display area with reduced volume and weight.